VZCZCXRO9610
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1880 1701451
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191451Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5741
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CAIRO 001880 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR WATERS AND DAVIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EG
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF SHURA COUNCIL RUN-OFF ELECTIONS: AND 
THE WINNER IS ... THE NDP 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 1823 
 
     ¶B. CAIRO 1717 
 
¶1. (SBU) On June 19, Egypt's Supreme Electoral Commission 
(SEC) announced the results of the June 18 Shura Council 
run-off elections, in which the remaining seventeen seats of 
the upper parliamentary chamber were contested (out of the 
total 88 seats up for election this year).  Fourteen National 
Democratic Party (NDP) candidates won run-off races, two 
"independents" (who are reportedly affiliated with the NDP) 
also won, and another NDP-affiliated "independent" won in an 
uncontested race (as the official NDP candidate dropped his 
candidacy immediately prior to the second round of voting). 
All thirty-one candidates contesting the June 18 second round 
races were either official NDP candidates or NDP-affiliated 
independents.  Taken with the results of the June 11 main 
elections (ref A) and the eleven NDP candidates who won seats 
without election (because there were no other candidates in 
their races; see ref B for details), the results of the 
elections overall are that 84 NDP candidates, three 
"independents", and one Taggamu Party candidate emerged 
victorious.  (Note: 88 seats of the 264-member Shura Council 
were up for election, and an additional 44 members will be 
appointed shortly by President Hosni Mubarak, in accordance 
with the constitutional requirement that fifty-percent of the 
total membership of the Council be renewed, either by 
election of appointment, every three years).  The new 
membership of the Shura Council is scheduled to convene on 
June 24, to elect a speaker and two deputies. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Other than a few minor scuffles between voters, no 
violence was reported in relation to the second round of 
voting.  Reports from civil society monitors indicate limited 
irregularities similar to those occurring during the June 11 
first round, including security services blocking voters' 
access to polling stations, prevention of registered 
observers from monitoring the casting of votes, and the late 
opening and early closing of polling stations.  Independent 
Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Yom reported on June 19 that 
approximately 100 NDP members in the countryside district of 
Minya submitted collective resignations "in protest against 
the rigging of the June 18 elections and forging of ballots" 
in favor of the NDP candidate running for the "professionals" 
Shura seat, and the retired lieutenant police colonel who ran 
for the "farmers" seat as an NDP-affiliated independent. 
According to the newspaper's report, two minibuses, 
accompanied by a police car, visited Minya polling stations 
and placed stacks of ballots marked in favor of the two 
candidates into ballot boxes. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The SEC made no announcement regarding estimated 
voter turnout on June 18.  Civil society monitors estimate 
turnout at between 1-5 percent. 
JONES